Casing machine



May 11, 1943. R. J. STEWART CASING MACHINE Filed Nov. 10, 1941 .9Sheets-Sheet 1 m mum y 11, 1 R. J. STEWART- 2,319,167

' CASING AciuuE Filed Nov. 10, 1941 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 g; (3 11 Ky J IRobe/'7" J. Sfewarfi.

R. J. STEWART 2,319,167

qAgme magma May 11 1943.

9 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 10, 1941 Robe/'7" J. Jfewarf;

, mwiayc a 7. May 11,1913. R. J. STEWART CASING MACHINE FilecLNov. 101941 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 RoberfJJfen ari;

QM T. ,L 1 www 5 .3. Y J Y nu N UH .T I mn 1 1x. M. Tu m NN u E 1 n y11, 1943- I R. sTEwA'R'r I 2,319,167

CASING MACHINE Filed Nov. 10, 1941 ,9 Skeete -Sheet 5.

.ssssss m R. J. STEWART 2,319,167

CASING MACHINE May' 11,1943.

9 Sheets-Sheet 6 May 11,1943. R. J. STEWART- CASING MACHINE Filed Nov.10, 1941 9 Sheets-Sheet '1 R. J. STEWART 2,319,167

CASING MACHINE Filed Nov. 10,' 1941 May 11, 1943.

9 Sheets-Sheet 8 May 11, 1943. v R. J. STEWART 2,319,167

- CASING MACHINE Filed NOV. 10, 1941 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 Patented May 11,1943 CASING MACHINE Robert J. Stewart, Baltimore, Ma, assignor to CrownCork & Seal Company, Inc., Baltimore, Md a corporation of New YorkApplication November 10, 1941, Serial No. 418,613

a Claims. (01. 226-14) The present invention relates to a casingmachine, and, more particularly, to a machine for delivering bottles orother articles to crates or other types of receptacle.

, An important object of the invention is to pro vide an apparatuscapable of operation at optimum speed to place articles in receptacles.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a casing machinewhereby articles may be moved from a continuously moving line andsuccessively placed in proper position in moving receptacles. a

Another object of the invention is to provide a system of controls for acasing machine which will insure that the machine will only startoperation when the supply of articles to be cased is adequate and thearticles are in proper position. In addition, the control will preventthe machine from being placed in operation until the proper supply ofreceptacles is at hand and no articles are jammed with respect to themachine.

A still further object of the invention is to provide amechanismresponsive to'jamming of articles and which will lock in the position towhich it is moved by the occurrence of a jam.

This arrangement insures that the machine can not be accidentallystarted and, in addition, serves to prevent the operator from startingthe machine until he has moved to the point at which the jam occurred toclear the same.

Another object of the invention is to provide easing fingers to controlthe dropping movement of articles into receptacles and which fingers areso mounted as to have a movement of optimum eiilciency to-direct thearticles along proper lines and, in addition, prevent the articles frombeing vention assures that the crates will be maintained with theirwalls parallel to the line along which the bottles will drop and willalso have their pockets aligned with that path. In addition, the machinemaintains the bottles .on the proper line during their droppingmovement.

It has heretofore been proposed to control dropping movement of articlesinto a crate by flngers movable through an orbital path. However,

the fingers of the present invention are so mounted and operated thatthey will always be under positive control to move through an orbitalpath of the most desirable form. I

Another object of the invention is to provide a bottle casing machine ofthe type including" bottle and crate moving elements and wherein theseelements are driven by means of optimum will be apparent from thefollowing drawings, a

wherein- Figure 1 is a rear elevation of the apparatus; Figure 2 is avertical sectional view onthe line 2-2 of Figure 3;

Figure 3 is a side view of the apparatus, looking toward the machinefrom the right hand portion of Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 is a central vertical sectional view through the machine on theline H of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure2 but with certain operating elements omitted;

Figure 5a is a detail vertical section on the line Stu-5a of Figure 5;

Figure 6 is an enlarged and fragmentary vertical sectional view taken onthe angled line 8-8 of Figure 5;

Figure '7 is a view similar to Figure 6 taken on the line 'l! of Figure5;

Figure 8 is a vertical section showing details of the operatingmechanism;

Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 8 but showing the elements at asuccessive stage inv their operation;

Figures 10 to 17 are detail vertical sectional views of a portion of themechanism shown in Figures 8 and 9 andshowing the operating elements insuccessive stages of their cycle;

Figure 18 is a generally horizontal sectional view on the line l8 |8 ofFigure 9, with the guide chutes omitted; and

Figure 19 is a view diagrammatically showing,

the control circuits of the apparatus.

The construction and operation of the 'ap-. paratus may be generallydescribed as follows: Referring to Figures 1 to 5, bottles B move to theapparatus on a bottle conveyor 8 (Figure 3) from a filling machine orthe like, the conveyor 8 being driven by a motor 9 throug suitablevariable speed gearing. Receptacles or cases C, forexample, bottlecrates, move to the apparatus on a crate conveyor Ill moving along aline at right angles to the movement of the certain bottle conveyor 8and below thelatter conveyor. Conveyor Ill is suitably driven by a motorwhich is not shown.

A drum device ll (Figures 2 and 4) is freely rotatable about ahorizontal shaft lla journaled directly above bottle conveyor 8, thedrum comprising a vertically arranged disc l2 and series ofcircumferentially spaced pins l3 pro jecting from its front face alonglines parallel with its axis. The arrangement of the pins with respectto bottle conveyor 8 is indicated in Figure 8, from which it will benoted that the pins (entire pushing load.

define pockets to receive the bottles in lines ex- 7 the vertical axesof the bottles extendingradially of the drum.

The bottles or other articles to be cased are urged into the pockets ofdrum II by the continued movement of the conveyor 8. Drum II is rotatedstep by step. about shaft lla through a cam operated and pawl carryinglever generally indicated in Figures 8 and 9 and rotation of the drumcauses a group of bottles corresponding to the width capacity of acrate, usually four bottles, to be moved step by step from bottleconveyor 8 and upwardly along a fixed plate l4 to the positionillustrated at the left of Figure 8. When the bottles reach thisposition they will be pushed off the plate I! to move downwardly alongits skirt l toward the pockets of a crate C which is supported upon anupwardly inclined roller conveyor It.

At the time the bottles reach the position shown at the left in Figure 8and also shown at the left in Figure 12, one of a plurality of eas- 11mfingers l'l pivoted on a horizontal axis will engage the bottom of eachbottle so that the bottle may only move downwardly along the skirt l5and between vertically extending guide vanes l8 (Figure 5) in accordancewith the downward movement of the fingers ll. Figures 12 to 17diagrammatically illustrate the movement of the fingers I] after theyhave engaged the bottom of the bottle and it will be observed fromFigures 16 and 17 that the fingers l1 finally move behind the skirt l5so as to become disengaged from the bottle, permitting the latter todrop into the pocket of the crate C as shown in Figure 17.

The crates C are advanced up the inclined conveyor l8 by a crate movingelement l8 which engages the cross dividing walls D of the crates C and,alternatively, the end walls E. The type of crate disclosed in thedrawings includes twenty-four pockets, arranged in six cross rows, withfour pockets in each cross-row. Referring to Figures 8 and 9, stop armsor crate holding means 28 to engage the crate walls D or E are sopositioned with respect to skirt l5 that they will cooperate with thecrate moving element l8 to hold thercrates in such position that a lineof cross pockets will be in proper position to receive dropping bottles.As a result, the descending bottles will move into the cross line ofpockets P, their. only free dropping movement being that which occursafter the bottom of the bottle has reached a point immediately above thecrate as indicated in Figure 15.

A generally horizontal plate 2| best. shown in Figures 8, 9 and to 1?moves forwardly and backwardly with the bottle easing fingers upinclined conveyor l8 by pulling element I9,

the forward edge of plate 2| will bear against the bottles just droppedinto the crate being filled. This action of plate 2l will assist inmoving the crates up incline l6. In the event the crate wall to beengaged by crate moving element I9 is broken, plate 2| can assume the Inaddition, should a bottle drop to stand upon theupper edge of a cratecross wall, plate 2l will push the bottle into a crate pocket.

The apparatusincludes controls to insure that the machine will onlyoperate when a supply of bottles or other articles and crates or otherreceptacles are delivered thereto, and also controls to insure that themachine will only start when the proper number of bottles has beenpositioned in each pocket of the drum l2. It further includes a controlto prevent the machine from operating in the event that a bottle isknocked over or becomes jammed while being moved into a drum pocket.

More particularly, a detector 22 best show in Figure 5 functions to stopoperation of the machine in the event that a gap occurs in the line ofbottles delivered by conveyor 8 and a detector 23 on the crate conveyorl0 best shown in Figure l is responsive to the feed of crates to themachine. A detector 24 shown in Figure 5 is responsive to the feeding ofbottles to the drum II and will prevent the drum from being starteduntil the full number of bottles to be placed in the pocket of a crateis received in a drum pocket. A detector 25 also shown in Figure 5 issopositioned that should a bottle be in such position that, on theadvancing movement of the drum, it straddles the drum pocket and thecorner of detector 25, either while the bottle is in an upright or ahorizontal position. the movement of the machine will be stopped.

The specific structure of the embodiment of the apparatus disclosed inthe drawings includes a frame including four or more vertical uprightelements 30 which support a lower horizontal framework SI and superposedhorizontal frame elements 32 and 83. As best shown in Figures 2, 3 and4, the disc l2 of drum ll is secured to a sleeve 4| which is freelyrotatable upon a horizontal shaft lla joumalled on the upper horizontalframework 33. The disc l2 has a large ratchet wheel 45 fixed to the sidethereof opposite that from which the pins I! extend. The drum pins l3preferably include a circular row of relatively large diametered pins.46 extending from the drum along a circular line near the periphery ofdisc I! together with a circular series of pins 41 of somewhat smallersize arranged on a circle of somewhat smaller diameter. Referring toFigure 8, for example, it will be noted that a pin 48 and a pin 41 areboth arranged along a line extending radially through the axis of drumII. By this arrangement. apair of adjacent pins 46 and a pair ofadjacent pins 41 form a pocket between them in which a bottle may stand,the more closely spaced pins d1 causing the pocket to be reduced at itsupper portion. that is. its portion nearest the diameter of the drum. Itwill be understood thatthearrangement of the pins may be varied todefine pockets of somewhat d fferent configuration but which will stillhold articles in such position that their vertical axes will extendradially with respect to the axis of the drum while moving with thedrum. I The bottle conveyor 8 is preferably formed of metal links havinga fiat upper surface to support the articles and, as best-shown inFigures to '7, moves on a trackway 48 which extends across the frame oftheapparatus somewhat above the horizontal framework 32. The conveyormovesabout a sprocket wheel 48 positioned at the outer side of the discI2 of drum I I so that the top run of conveyor 8 will move bottlesentirely within the pockets ofthe drum. The rotation of drum II ment tomove a line of bottles forward fromthe in a clockwise manner relative toFigure 2 will cause bottles to be swept off one side of the conveyor 8as indicated by the arrow in Figure 5. The framework 58 which'guides themovement of the bottles on conveyor 8 may be extended as indicated at 51on the opposite side of the conveyor 8 to a point adjacent the disc I2.

Referring to Figures 8 and 9, the plate I4 across which bottles movewith drum II is fixed in theframework and is curved upwardly from theconveyor trackway 48 so that it conforms to the diameter of the disc I2,.thereby insuring that conveyor 8. The pawl'GIl willridealon'g ratchetwheel upon upward'm'ovement 'of' rodjflf'so as to engage the next tooth.'Inordertoprevent the drum from turning in the opposite direction, a.sto'p'arin 'Il' is pivoted on the upper 'tion of bottles may be smoothlymoved from conveyor 8 to and along plate l4 Without their position withrespect to the axis of the drum being changed. As best shown in Figures4 and 5, a vertical wall 52 extends along theplate I4 parallel with thedisc I2 of the drum, the disc and wall thereby serving to generallydirect the movement of bottles along plate I4.

The skirt I5 down which the bottles slide from the plate I4 to the cratepockets is shown in top plan in Figure 5. It will be observed from thisview that skirt I5 comprises a plurality of depending blocks 53supported at their upper ends,

as also shown in Figure 14, by a cross bar 54 fixed to the frame oftheapparatus. It will also be noted from Figure 5 that the blocks 53 are ofsuch form that two adjacent blocks form a chute 55 down which a bottlemay slide, with a vertically extending slot 56 between the blocks inwhich the fingers I1 operate.

Each block also supports a vertically extending plate or guide vaneforming part of the group of vertical guide vanes I8, the purpose ofthese vanes being to prevent the bottles from moving sidewise as theydrop in the chutes 55 and, further-- more, to deflect and space thebottles just prior to and during their dropping movement so that each,bottle will be transversely aligned with a; crate pocket at theconclusion of its dropping movement. That is, at the time that thebottles are. moved from the conveyor 8 by the drum II, they are incontact and they must be spaced somewhat before they can properly dropinto the crate pockets. Figure 5 illustrates the center vane 51 of groupI8 as vertical while the two adjacent vanes are inclined toward thereenter plate at their portions nearest the conveyor 8 so as to spacethe two outermost bottles of a line he of four from the two centerbottles.

Referring to Figures 2, 8 and 9, the mechanism for moving the drum IIstep by step may be generally described as comprising a pawl device 68operated from a cam shaft 6I driven by a. motor 62 through a suitablespeed reduction unit 68. 'Pawl 68 ismoved in timed relation with theengaged by a strap 66 carried by a rod 61 pivotallir connected asindicated at 68 to a bell-crank 68 keyed to the shaft I la on which thedrum II the frame '30 to, drop int the ratc they move beneath thesame.,f In

v dition, a spring pressed plunger I2 may be mounted in the upperportion of the frame3ilto bearupon disc I2 and prevent overrun'ning.,The pivotof stop arm II may be eccentrically mounted to render itadjustable. I A.

Just below plate I4, as shown n Figure 8, the vertical arm 80 ofbell-crank 6 supports one end of a cross rod 88a as best shownin FigureI8, the other end of rod 88a being supported by a lever 80b keyed toshaft IIa to swing with the bell-crank 68. A generally horizontalU-shaped bracket BI is pivoted on rod 80a and the cross bar 8Ia of thisbracket carries the crate pulling elements I9. provided and, as shown inFigure 18, these elements are of rod formation and each carries a pawl82 at its free end, each pawl being urged to a limit position by aspring 83 acting upon its upper portion. The elements I8 are adjustablymounted in cross rod 8Iq so that thepositlon of each pawllengthwise ofinclined conveyor I6 may be varied.

As best shown in Figures 2 and 9, a cam fo-llower 81 engaging a cam 86carried on cam shaft 6| has its upper end pivotally connected to theframe 8 I. Cam 86 is so timed with respect to eccentric that the raisingand lowering-of. the elements I8 will have a timed relation with;respect to the forward movement (clockwise move- 5 rriient in Figures2, 8 and 9) of the. vertical arm the forward rotation of drum II, theelements I8 will be in lowered position so that they will be inengagement with a wall D or Ev of the crate immediately behind the crateto be filled. At' the end of their forward stroke, cam 86 will cause theelements I8 to lift to release the crates, ordinarily permitting theline of crates to slide backwardly by gravity until the cratewallwhichhas Just been engaged by the pawls 82 of the elements I9 willcontact with the stop arms 28.

Then, as the bell-crank 68 is rotated in a counterclockwise or backwarddirection by eccentric 65, the elements I8, still in raised position,will like wise move backwardly. At the conclusion of the .crate pullingelement I8 and the bottle easing backward movement ofbell-crank 69, cam86 will permit elements I8 to drop sothat when their advancing movementagain occurs, they will contact with the next succeeding cross wall of acrate. It is ordinarily preferred to "have the backward movement of theelements I8 continued to a point well behindthe crate wall to be engagedso'that the engaging ends of the pawls 82 will drop down behind suchwalls-and then come forward on their advancingmovement to contact thewalls. However, should a pawl Four elements I9 are preferably 82 contactwith a crate wall during backward movement of the pawl, the pawl willsimplyturn against the action of itsv spring 83 to slide over the wall.Elements I! thus move'in an elongated orbital path.

The crate pulling elements It preferably push the crates up the inclinedconveyor IS a sufiicient distance that the rear cross wall of thepockets to be filled will be positioned directly in the path of thedropping bottlesas indicated in Figure 13, and the crates then dropbackwardly by gravity to the position indicated in Figure 15, in whichposition the crate stop arms 20 are in contact with the crate. In otherwords, the positionof the crates with respect to the vertical bottleguiding skirt I5 is finally controlled by the stop arms '20.

The stop arms are preferably mounted on an eccentric pivot so that theirposition can be adjusted lengthwise of conveyor l8.

it is not possible to align crate pockets with skirt I! simply byadvancing the crates on each forward strokeof pullers l9 by a distancecorresponding to the distance between the center lines of adjacentpockets in a crate. Obviously, if such practice we're followed, the rearwall of the of a crate would not reach skirt ii.

To compensate for the above condition, the

pullers It, on each forward stroke, advance the line of crates by adistance at leastequal to the distance between-pocket center-lines in acrate, plus the difference between the thickness of one dividing wall Dand the thickness of twoend walls E. If the stop arms 20 are then sopositioned that the same number of end walls E will always be betweentheir front faces and the front surface of skirt ii, the front surfaceof a rear wall of a crate pocket will always come to rest in exact,alignment with skirt ii.

In practice, it is found desirable to have the distance between thefront faces of stop arms 20 andithe front surface of skirt l5 equal tothe overall length of a crate, minus the inside dimension of one pocket.Also, it is most practicable to have the pullers l9 follow a somewhatlonger stroke than that specified above for, by lengthening the stroke,it will be assured that the stop arms 20 will always readily drop intoposition. The stroke of the pullers l8 furthermoremust be so arrangedthattheir forward movement will begin far enough to the rear to readilydrop behind two pairs of thick walls E. I

As has been stated above, when operating upon crates of the typedisclosed herein, the stop arms 20, finally control the alignment of thecrate pockets beneath skirt l5 and the pullers I! preferably act only as-crate advancing or moving means. Howevenin some instances, even withpockets immediately behind the leading wall E of the pullers couldterminate exactly at the point at which the stop arms 20 drop. That is,with the pullers having a stroke equal to the distance between cratepocket center lines plus the difference between one wall D and two wallsE, the stroke could start that distance back of stop arms 20 even thoughthe only time the pullers l9 would immediately contact withcrate wallswould be when striking an end wall E. This arrangementwould eliminatethe necessity of having the crates drop backwardly any substantialdistance, because they would always stop exactly in alignment with skirtl5, In other words, all compensation for wall thickness would occurduring the initial portion of the forward stroke of the pullers l9,instead of after the forward stroke is completed.

Referring to Figure 4, the inclined conveyor I8 is provided on one sidewith an adiustably mounted strip Na which carries rollers against whichthe side walls of the crates are forced by I spring-pressed rollers libon the opposite side of the conveyor frame. By this arrangement,

the longitudinal partitions of the crates are maintained in alignmentwith the vanes of the bottle guiding plates l8. As best shown in Figures8 and 18, the bottle easing fingers H are fixed to a rocker shaft lljournaled in bell-crank arm at and lever "b above rod 80a. Hence, theswinging movement of bell crank 69 controls the forward and backwardmovement of fingers ll into and out of the path of dropping movement ofthe bottles. However, the i'aising and lowering movement of fingers I1is primarily controlled by a cam l5 fixed to the cam shaft 6| andiwhichis engaged movement of the bottles and will move them downwardly afterthey,have reached advanced position. As is hereinafter-more fullydescribed.

- the resulting movement given the free ends of the fingers I! isorbital as showings of Figures 10 to 1'7. I

.As has been hereinbefore stated, plate 2| functions as a crate pushingmeans in the event that the other pushing or pulling means I! fails tomake contact with a dividing wall D due to the fact that the upperportion of such wall D is broken. For this purpose, plate 2| has twoupwardly extending ears I" at its ends which crates of the type referredto, the pullers I! may be used to both move and align the receptacles vand the stop arms 20 may simply act as"means positioned behind skirt I!a distance equal to.

the overall length of a crate minus the inside diameter of a cratepocket and the forward stroke 7 merit of the fingers n,

are apertured to loosely fit on rod a as shown in Figures 10 and 18.Each ear III! has a bifurcated upper portion to form legs Illi'whichloose- 1y embrace easing finger shaft 94. Set screws mounted in the legsI06 opposite shaft control the swinging movement of the plate. A

spring Hll connected between bell-crank arm II and plate 2| urges-thelatter to its upward position as controlled by forward leg Ill. andshown in FigurelO. In this position the plate will clear the top edge ofthe crate. Plate 2| will be urged to a downward position such as shownin Figure 16 by contact of the fingers/I1 therewith, this position beingcontrolled byf the rear legs I". The set screws carried by the rear legswill, of course, be so adjusted as not to indicated a by the hampermove,-

asiaicr and 01 will follow cams 83 and 95, respectively,

springs may be connected between the followers and the machine frame tourge the followers downwardly.

The control devices to insure that the apparatus will stop when a gapoccurs in the delivery of crates or bottles, or when a bottle becomesjammed between the rotating drum and the conveyor 0, and also to insurethat the machine will not start unless the proper number of bottles isplaced in a drum pocket, are as follows: v

The detector 22 to insure that the machine will stop in the event that agap' occurs in the line of bottles upon the infeed bottle conveyor 8comprises a plate I20 best shown in Figures 5, 5a, and 6 and positionedon the conveyor framework 48 alongside of the upper run of the conveyor8 and at a point fairly close to the upper surface of the conveyor asshown in'Figure 5a.

Plate I is fixed to a bracket I2I and bracket I2I is pivoted at itslower end on a horizontal line as indicated at I22 to amounting plateI23 fixed to the side of the conveyor frame 48. At its lower end thebracket I2I includes a rearward projection I24 adapted to bear, throughan adjustable set screw, upon an electric switch I25. The operatingbutton of switch I25 against which the set screw bears is adapted to beurged to opened position by a spring within the switch of suflicientforce to urge bracket projection I24 upwardly and thereby hold bracket IM and plate I20 inwardly toward the center-line of bottle conveyor 8.Inward movement of bracket I2I is limited by a set screw I22a. Themoving elements of detector 22 are so balanced on pivot I22 that nopressure isexerted upon the spring of switch I25 unless a bottle iscontacting plate I20.

As best shown in Figure 5, plate I20 extends lengthwise of bottleconveyor 8 for a sufficient distance to insure that two bottles maycontact therewith, thereby preventing the switch from being openedintermediate the passage of two bottles closely adjacent each other.Also, the entrance edge of plate I20 is beveled to enable incomingbottles to readily move the plate to switch .closing position. As shownin Figure 51]., plate I20 is positioned .so close to the upper surfaceof conveyor 8 that when a bottle is lying horizontal upon the conveyor,the wall of the bottle will not contact with plate I20 because thelatter will be below the horizontal diameter of the bottle. Thisprevents detector 22 from being moved to closed position by an upsetbottle.

s As is hereinafter explained, the bottle feed detector 22 is not incircuit with the bottle conveyor driving motor 3 but only in circuitwith the casing machine driving motor 62 so that motor 9 may operatecontinuously to deliver bottles, regardless of temporary stoppage of thecasing machine driving motor 32.

Referring to Figure l, the crate or receptacle detector 23 comprises anarm I fixed to a rod I3l extending between the side frame members Iflaof conveyor It. Rod I3I also has fixed thereto an arm I32 extending inthe opposite direction from arm I30 and adapted to engage the operatingbutton of an electrical switch I35, which button is urged upwardly tocircuit closing position by a spring within the switch. Detector arm I30is urged upwardly into the path of the crates by a coil spring on rodI3I, so that it tends to move the operating element of switch I35downwardly'to opening position. However, so long as the bottom wall of acrate is bearing upon arm I30, the latter will be held downwardly asindicated in Figure 1 so that switch I35 may remain in circuit closingposition.

Crate conveyor I0 comprises a frame I0a having rollers I33 journaledtherein to support the crates, the rollers being driven by an endlessbelt I31 engaging their lower surfaces and operated from a suitablesource of power. In order to insure that the crates will be positivelymoved toward the lower end of the inclined conveyor I8, it is founddesirable to cover spaced rollers I36a with rubber or other frictionmaterial to make a proper engagement with the bottom surfaces of thecrates.

As is hereinafter explained, the crate conveyor drivingmotor is not incircuit with the crate detector 23, the latter only being in circuitwith motor 62. .This arrangement insures that stoppage of the casingmachine will not result in a temporary gap in the delivery line ofcrates.

As shown in Figures 5, 6 and 7, the detector 24 to insure that thecasing machine will only start when the proper number of bottles ispositioned in a drum. pocket comprises a blade I40 extendingtransversely of bottle conveyor 8. More particularly, blade I40 is fixedto a horizontally extending plate I pivotally connected to the lowerends of two parallel and vertical links I43 pivotally mounted on asupport I42 fixed to theframe of the machine. One of the links I43extends upwardly past its pivot and has a coil spring I44 connectedthereto, which coil spring is secured atits opposite end to the supportI42. Spring I44 thereby urges blade I40 inwardly into the path ofincoming bottles on bottle conveyor 8. Spring I44 exerts just,sufiicient tension that it will hold plate I40 to the right in Figure'1 if only three bottles are pressing against the latter I veyor 8 thatshould a bottle fall forwardly as it enters a leading drum pocket, thehead of the bottle will be entirely above blade I43 so that the latterwill not be moved into circuit closing position.

As shown in Figure 5, blade H40 preferably extends some distance alongthe path of movement of bottles or other articles with drum ll. Moreparticularly, the blade is of such length transversely of conveyor 8that the leading bottle will remain in engagement therewith to hold thebladein circuit closing position until just an instant'prior to themoment that the line of bottles reaches position Y, the first positionoff conveyor 8 occurring by reason of one movement of drum II.

Referring to Figures 5, 5a, and 7, the anti-jam detector 25 comprises anangled blade I50 ineluding an arm I5I extending alongside the path ofmovement of bottles with drum I I and an arm I52 extending alongside thepath of movement of bottles with the conveyor 8. Blade I50 is pivoted atthe outer end of arm I52 at av point I53 upon a support I54 secured tothe frame 48 of conveyor 8. A spring I55 has one end thereof connectedto frame 48 and the opposite end connected to blade I 50 to urge .theblade to the position shown in Figure wherein its arm I52 extendsparallel with the center-line of conveyor 8. As shown in Figure 5a, armI52 also has a projection I58 extending rearwardly therefrom, theundersurface of the outer end of projection I58 being beveled so thatthe operating button of an electrical switch I51 may normally extendupwardly into circuit closing position be-' neath the beveled portion.

In the event that a bottle becomes jammed between the-corner I50a ofblade I50 and one of the pins I8 of drum II, blade I50 will be swung ina clockwise direction on its pivot I58 as viewed in Figure 5 so that thebeveled portion of projection I58 will move past the operating button ofswitch I51 and the thicker portion of projection I 55 will contact withthe operating button to force the latter downwardly to circuit openingposition. At the same time, a downwardly urged spring-pressed plungerI58 extending vertically of blade I50 adjacent its pivot I53 will bemoved downwardly by its spring into a socket I58 (Figure 7). Thismovement of plunger I58 will lock the detector in circuit openingposition so that it cannot return to its normal position until theoperator has drawn the plunger I58 upwardly. As is hereinafterexplained, this arrangement prevents the machine from startingaccidentally while an operator is endeavoring to remove broken glassfrom a point adjacent detector 25.

As shown in Figure 5a, the face of blade I is shaped to conform to theportion of bottles which will ordinarily be in engagement therewith. Inaddition, the blade is of such vertical width that a bottle lying downupon the conveyor 8 will contact therewith. Hence, if such a bottlebecomes jammed between conveyor 8 and drum, II, blade I50 will beoperated to circuit opening position.

The spring I which holds detector 25 inwardly as shown in Figure 5 issufilciently strong that blade I50 will only be moved outwardly by alateral movement of a bottle. However, detector 22, opposite blade I50,is so mounted that it will readily move outwardly upon mere movement of'a bottle in contact with plate I20. By this arrangement, these twodetectors can be mounted opposite each other and at the critical pointsit is desired to protect.

The circuits whereby the detectors 22, 28, 24 and 25 control the casingapparatus motor 82 are shown in Figure 19.

Referring to Figure 19, power is supplied to the apparatus through mainleads "I, I 12 and I18. A manual contro l switch I14 including a startbutton I15 and a "stop button I16 is provided. Assuming that the switchassociated with the anti-Jam detector 25 is closed, the motor 82 will,be started when start button I15 is closed, this being accomplished bythe following primary controlling circuit: 1

Currentwill flow from power line "I through lead I8I across ,startswitch I15 and through lead I82 across the closed st'op switch I16 tolead I88 andthence across closed switch I51 of detector-25 to'a lead I84including an electromagnetic holding coil I85 topower line I12.Energization of coil I85 will cause a carrier I88 to move contactscarried thereby'to cause current to flow from the power lines "I, I12and I18 through primary switch I10, to leads I8I, I82 and I88,respectively.

With detector switch I25 closed due to bottles opposite plate I20 onconveyor 8, detector switch I85 closed due to crates on conveyor I0, anddey I to place the motor leads 20I, 202 and 208 m circuit'with leadsI91, I82 and I83 so that the motor 82 will be started. v

"Start button I15 may of course be released instantly it has beenpressed and so long as the detector switches are closed, the motor willcontinue to operate because holding coils I and I88will remain energizedthrough the normally closed stop switch I18.

It will be noted that the switch I51 associated with the jam detector 25is in the primary circuit directly in series between the holding coilI85 of primary switch I10 and the stop" switch I18. Because of this, ifa jam occurs at detector 25,-regardless of the position of any of theother detector switches, the primary holding coil I85 will bedeenergized, opening the primary circuit and also the circuit throughthe secondary holding coil I88 so that the motor 82 will stop.Obviously, the only way in which the circuit of the motor 82 can then berestored will be for the operator to again press the start button I15.In addition, as has been stated above, the blade I50 of detector 25 willlock in circuit opening position by the action of bolt I58 andthe-operator must unlock the detector before the circuit can bere-closed. Since bolt I58 is positioned close to the source of the Jam,an operator moving to the detector is most apt, while there, to clearall broken glass from the operating elements before unlocking thedetector. In the meantime, no other operator can start the machine untilthe operator near the jam has released bolt I58.

The bottle feed detector switch I25 and case detector switch I85respectively associated with detectors 22 and 28, are so arranged incircuit with the switch I45 of detector 24 that through holding coil I88of secondary switch I80 cannot initially be closed until all three ofthese detector switches are closed, nevertheless, the opening of theswitch I45 of detector 24 after coil I88 has once been energized willnot result in the coil being de-energized and the circuit throughsecondary switch I80 opened.

In more detail, when all three of the detector switches I45, I85, andI25 are closed because of the presence of bottles and crates on thebottle and crate conveyors, respectively, and also because four bottlesare in contact with the blade I40 of detector 24, closing of the primaryswitch I10 will cause current to flow through holding coil I88 to closesecondary switch I80 and cause motor 82 to start as has been statedabove. However, whenever the switch I45 of detector 24 opens, as itregularly does as soon as bottles have moved from receiving position Xin the drum II to the first position Y to whicnthe drum will move them,the resulting opening of switch I45 will not break the circuit throughholding coil I88 because of by-pass 205 extending from lead I85 to themoving contact 208 which is in connection with lead I8I. It thereforefollows that holding coil I88 will remain tect'or 22.

25 be actuated to circuit opening position, the

received group of bottles from their position on the bottle conveyor 8shown at X in Figure 19 to pdsition Y in the same figure, blade I40 maymove to open switch I45 because a' very brief interval of time willelapse before the leading bottle now moving into position X strikes theblade. However, this will not interrupt the operation of the machine. Itwill be observed from what has been stated immediately above, thatdetector 24 is, in fact, a starting detector to make certain that themachine cannot start after any stoppage until four bottles are atposition X.

It is found in actual operation that the machine will operatecontinuously if its speed of operation is properly synchronized with-therate of delivery of bottles on the conveyor 8 from a filling machine orthe like and so long as the supply of crates is continued. That is, itcan be assumed that the filling machine or other source of supply ofbottles or other articles will be maintained in operation and, as longas this occurs, bottles will move in a continuous stream on conveyor 8.If a gap of more than two bottles occurs in the stream, the machine willthen be stopped by the action of bottle detector 22 and will notre-start until the conveyor 8 moves four bottles to position XV However,in practice no means to count the bottles placed in position X withinthe drum II is necessary once the first group of bottles to be handledis-placed in that position to close starting detector 24.

Figure 19 also illustrates the manner in which the driving motor 9-forthe bottle conveyor 8 is controlled through a manual switch 220 in awell known manner. It.will. be observed that the bottle conveyor drivingmotor 9 is operated entirely independently of the motor 62 which drivesthe cam shaft 6| to thereby drive the drum I2 and the mechanismsassociated there- ,with. Hence, none of the detectors 22, 23, 25

or 25 will affect the operation of the conveyor driving motor 9 and thelatter must be separately manually controlled.

By having the motors of the crate conveyor It and the bottle conveyor 8entirely independent of the detector circuits, the machine can restartof its own accord after a temporary failure of either crates or bottlesbecause the continued operation of these conveyors will correct thedifiiculty. 4 bottles fails, even while conveyor 8 is still driven,operation of the drum II will discontinue due to the action of thedetector 22. When this detector and detector 24 are again closed byresumption of feed of bottles on the conveyor, the

' motor 62 will again start, assuming that the crate detector 23 andanti-jam detector 25 are in circuit closing position, becauseonlysecondary switch I90 has been opened by opening of de- However,should the jam detector primary circuit through switch I10 will beopened and will remain opened until the manual switch v I14 is closed.When a jam occurs, the operator may stop the motors of the conveyors 8and III by operating manual switches. However,

For example, if the supply of,

since both of these cmveyors can simply slide beneath bottles and cratesstanding thereon, their continued operation on the occurrence of a jamcannot cause damage.

The cycle of operation shown in Figures 10 to 17 is as follows: As bestshown in Figure 10. bottles will be, moved from the upright position Xin Figure 10, in which position they are standing upon the bottleinfeed' conveyor 8, in two successive steps across the supporting plateI4 and at the end of the second step the'bottles at Z will still beentirely supported upon plate I4 with their vertical axes extendingalong a line passing through the axis of drum II so that the bottleswill be inclined. 0n the next movement of drum II, the line Z of bottlesshown'in Figure 10 will be pushed further across the supporting plate I4as indicated in Figure 11 and at the completion of this movement of thedrum this outermost line of bottles will be entirely clear of plate I4and will begin to drop as shown in Figure 12.

Referring again to Figure 10, which showsthe preceding line Za ofbottles as having been Just dropped into the pocket of a crate C, itwill beobserved that at this time the 'bottle easing fingers I1 are in adownward position due to the fact that the lowest portion of cam 95 isbeneath the cam following roller 96 of rod 91. In addition, becausebell-crank 69 is at its extreme counter-clockwise position as shown .inFigure 2, the pivot 94 of the fingers I1 is retracted beneath plate I4as far as possible. In the Figurell position the bell-crank 69 is beingswung in a clockwise direction by rotation of the eccentric acting onrod 61. As a result, the bottles are being pushed toward the outer edgeof support I4 as described and, in addition, the rotation of the cam iscausing rod 91 to lift the crank 99 so as to rotate the shaft 94carrying the fingers I1. In other words, as the fingers I1 are moved tothe left in Figure 11 they are likewise swung upwardly. In Figure 12 theaction of cam 95 has caused the fingers I1 to reach their maximum raisedposition and at the same time,

the move'ment of bell-crank 69 which has turned the drum to cause theouter row of bottles to drop from plate I4 has also bodily moved thefingers I1 to their limit forward position with respect to the chutes orskirt I5.

=r-As has been heretofore explained, the clockwise forward movement ofbell-crank 69 will cause the crate moving element I9 including frame BIand the pawls 82 to move forwardly to move the crates up the inclinedconveyor from theFigure 10 position to that shown in Figure 12, whereinthe crates are so far forward that thecrate walldefining the rear wallof the row of pockets to be filled is advanced beyond the face of skirtI5 and is in the path of the bottles being dropped as shown in Figure12. However, in the Figure 12 position, pawl raising and lowering cam 86has acted .upon rod 81 to lift the pawl carrying frame 8| so that thecrates are beginning to slide down conveyor I6 to proper positionagainst stops 20.

Referring to Figure 13, the bottles are now falling down the chute alonginclined lines which are parallelto the walls of the crate pockets 'InFigures 14 and 15 all of the movements shown in Figure 13 arecontinuing, with the result that the bottle is moving downwardly withthe fingers H as the latter-are being further retracted and lowered.

In Figure 16, fingers H are entirely out of the path of the bottles andtheir backward movement therein. As a result, the clearance about thebottle is extremely small and it is important to have the bottle movingalong the proper line.

The plate 2|, aside from assisting in the for-. ward motion of thecrates by acting during the forward or driving movement of bell-crank 69upon the rear of the bottles Just positioned in the crate, also actsupon the rear edge of any bottle which may catch upon the upper edge ofthe rear fingers are still moving rearwardly with the bellcrank 59. Thebottles, now free to fall, are still dropping toward the bottom of thecrate pockets. At this same time, the pulling elements l9 will stillbein raised position, since they are still moving backwardly withbell-crank 69.

The return movement of bell-crank 69 with respect to drum H will carrythe fingers I! and plate 2| somewhat to the rear of the position shownin Figure 1'7 and to a position approximating that illustrated in Figure10. When the forward or clockwise movement of bell-crank 69 is initiatedunder the action of eccentric 65, the fingers |l will begin to swingforwardly and will also immediately begin to lift under the action ofthe cam 95.. Before the forward movement of the bell-crank 69 begins,cam 88 will permit the pawl carrying frame 8| to drop so that the pawls82 will drop into engagement behind the crate dividing wall D or a-crateend wall E. As a result, when the forward motion of bell-crank 69begins, the line of crates will be advanced as indicated in Figures 10and 11.

The motion of the tips of the easing fingers I1 is along an orbital pathof a generally triangular shape. That is, the fingers begin to liftimmediately they move forwardly and their lifting motion terminates withthe end of their for-' ward movement. This may be described as theirmovement along one leg of the triangle. Then the fingers drop while inan almost entirely forward position, defining the other leg of thetriangle. During their return movement, which occurs while the fingersare almost entirely lowered, the third leg of the triangle is defined.

Because the entire dropping movement of the fingers occurs while theyare in well advanced position, their entire dropping occurs while theyare in engagement with the bottles. This assures that a maximum portionof the dropping movement of a bottle will occur under the control of thefingers.

It willbe noted that the inclined conveyor I6 extends along a line whichis at right angles to the line along which the bottles move. As aresult, the forward and rear walls of the pockets into which a bottledrops will be parallel with the line L along which the vertical axis ofthe bottle moves during its dropping. -'I'his fact, as well as the factthat the bottles are eased downwardly along their line of dropping, isof'particular importance in positioning beverage containers. in the typeof crates ordinarily provided for the same. More particularly, manytypes of such crates have their square pockets of a dimension onlyone-sixteenth of an'inch larger than the.

outside diameter of the bottle to be received wall of a crate pocket topush such bottle slightly. forwardly so that it will drop into the cratepocket. I

By operating all of the moving elements of the machine by rotary camdevices, smooth. and. quiet operation is assured and the strain on theoperating elements 81, 81 and 91 is minimized.

It will also be observed that bell-crank or .lever element 69 entirelycarries the fingers l1, plate 2| and pulling elements l9 and that allmovement of elements ll, l9 and 2| relative to lever 69 are positivelycontrolled. Because the vertically moving cam followers operating drum Hand elements l1, l9 and 2| may be directly beneath the path of lever 69,the entire drive mechanism will occupy a minimum area horizontally ofthe machine.

The terminology used in the specification is for the purpose ofdescription and not of limitation, the scope of the invention beingdefined in the claims.

I claim:

1. Inc. casing machine, article delivery means, article moving means tomove articles in a path, a drive motor for said article moving means, aswitch responsive to the presence of articles on said article deliverymeans, a switch responsive to the presence ofarticles in the path of thearticle moving means, a running control circuit for the drive motorincluding only the first-named of said two switches, and a startingcircuit including both of said switches.

2. In' combination, a support, a pair of conveyor elements movablerelative to said support, one of said conveyor elements being adapted toreceive articles from the other, means to drive at least one of saidelements, means to control said driving means comprising a detector atthe point of article transfer and movable relative to said support todriving means stopping position upon the exertion of pressure againstsaid detector by an article, and manually releasable means tohold saiddetector in driving means stopping position. 3. In a casing machineincluding a stationary frame, article supporting means, receptaclesupporting means, means to move articles from said article supportingmeans into a receptacle on said receptacle supporting means, a memberpivoted on the machine frame, drive means to oscillate said member,receptacle engaging means pivotally carried by said member, and meansdirectly connecting said receptacle engaging means to said driving meansso that said receptacle engaging first detector is moved outwardly byarticles and inoperative when said second detector is moved outwardly byarticles.

5. In a casing machine, an article conveyor, a receptacle conveyor,article moving. means to move articles from the article conveyor torecepj- I tacles on the receptacle conveyor, a drive motor port ,on saidbase, a receptacle support on said -receptaclesupportfa bell crankpivotedbn said for said last-named means, an article detector adjacentsaid article conveyor, 'a receptacle detector adjacent saidreceptacleconveyor, a jam detector at the point at which articles are engaged bysaid article moving means, a drive motor switch, a manual switch, aprimary circuit including said manual switch and held closed by said jamdetector, a secondary circuit normally held closed by said primarycircuit and including said article and receptacle detectors and a drivemotor switch controlling circuit normally held closed by said secondarycircuit, whereby movement of said article and receptacle detectors tocircuit opening position will open said drive motor controlling circuitwithout opening said primary circuit.

6. In a casing machine, an article conveyor, a receptacle conveyor,article moving means to move articles from said article conveyor toreceptacles on said receptacle conveyor, an article detector adjacentsaid article conveyor, a receptacle detector adjacent said receptacleconveyor, a jam detector at the point at which said article moving meansengages articles on said article conveyor, a drive motor for saidarticle moving means, a circuit including said motor, a second circuitincluding said article and receptacle detectors to control saidfirst-named circuit, and a third circuit including said jam detector-tocontrol said second circuit.

said receptacl support, a lever pivoted on said,

base on a horizontal axis and including a sub- 7 stantially horizontalarm and a substantially vertical arm, driving means, means operativelyconnecting said driving means and the horizontal arm of the bell crankto oscillate the latter on its axis, means carried by the horizontal armof said bell crank to move said article moving member, receptacleengaging means extending along and above said receptacle support andcarried by the vertical arm of said bell crank to engage receptacles andadvance them along said receptacle support, and means connecting saidreceptacle engaging means and said driving means to impart verticallifting movement to said receptacle'enga'ging means. a

9. In a casing machine, a base, an article support on said base, areceptacle support on said base beneath said article support, meansmovable with respect to said base to move articles from said articlesupport to drop into receptacles on base on a horizontal axis above saidarticle support, fingers pivoted on said lever between said articlesupport and said receptacle support to engage dropping articles toretard their dropping movement, a crank fixedly connected to saidfingers, driving means ior said lever, and a link connecting said crankand said driving means to 7. In a casing machine, an article conveyor, W

a receptacle conveyor, article moving means to move articles from thearticle conveyor to receptacles on said receptacle conveyor, an articledetector responsive to the presence of articles on said articleconveyor, a receptacle detector responsive to the presence 01'receptacles on said receptacle conveyor, 9, third detector responsive tothe presence oi articles at said article moving means, a drive motor forsaid article moving means, and a circuit controlling said drive motorhavingall three detectors arranged in series to prevent the motor frombeing started unless all detectors are in position to close saidcircuit, and means effective when said circuit is closed swing saidfingers vertically relative to said lever during their movement with thelatter.

10. In a casing machine, a base, an article support on said base, areceptacle support on said base beneath said article support, an articlemoving member movable with respect to said base and across said articlesupport to move articles from the latter to drop into a receptacle onsaid receptacle support, a lever pivoted on said base on a horizontalaxis above said article support to hold it closed independently 01' saidthird detector.

8. In a casing machine, a base, on article supand engaging said articlemoving member to move the same, fingers pivoted on said lever betweensaid article support and said receptacle support to engage droppingarticles to retard their dropping movement, a crank fixedly connected tosaid fingers, driving means for said lever, and a link connecting saidcrank and said driving means to swing. said fingers vertically relativeto said lever during their movement with the latter.

ROBERT J. STEWART.

